"When's the last time you cleaned that armour?"

 

I step off the buzz at Falkreath to find myself staring down the barrel of an arrow. Luckily she was aiming at the bristleback behind me.

 

I spot Hera, one of the travelling merchants from HSO and step up to buy some fire salts (skooma ingredient). As I do so a dozy bounty hunter appears behind out of thin air.

I 'pay' my bounty and suddenly it all kicks off. The bounty hunter is dead before I can turn around and the team are galloping off after something else. Just as I'm thinking this is going to be a reload as the town will go hostile, it is all over. Net result is one dead bounty hunter and for some reason one dead Gleipnir merc outside the longhouse.

 

In the alchemists shop I find a follower so I grab her and head into the longhouse.

"Bloody hellfire".

 

I grab the 2 followers from the longhouse including this new one.

 

Of course as soon as we step outside we are attacked by a lone nutter.

 

Falkreath Cemetery, or as I like to call it Nightshade City.

 

I grab another follower from the Hall of the Dead and we hit the road. Just before the junction where you can turn right and head to Riverwood along the lake we spot our first dead body - a stormy. As we approach junction we can see fire spells going off.

At the junction this guy comes strolling along heading towards Riverwood. Personally I think he is being a little too optimistic.

Looks like I was correct.

 

We pass some dead hoppers as the sun starts to come up.

 

As we are approaching Half Moon Mill I see one of the girls from Not Chicks Have Hot Sisters, to wit, Hert's sister, walk into the cabin and drop her raised dead ally. From what it dropped it looked like a Hammerfell bandit so fair play to her.

Just as I'm thinking about this all hell breaks loose with the gels haring off. By the time I react they've dealt with that one and are off down the road in the direction we have just come from.

I had a quick look around but I could find anything. Probably just wolves.

 

To be honest I'm surprised we got this far with so little trouble but as we set off again we pass another dead hopper then come across these two body strokers.

The road looks clear from here but if I move up to just past the body strokers . . .

These were an experienced rogue, mage and warrior who travel together from one of my mods.

 

It's all downhill from here.

We have Tolstoy the Wanderer and one of those farmers who is off to join the legion or the stormies. The mammoth is already fighting something.

Perhaps I should say 'was fighting' as he keeled over two seconds later. ☹️ There's a dead sabrecat and a wandering trader and some other guy running for it.

It now goes mental.

We get to the junction and the gels go aggro. I haven't a clue as to what is going as there are people running all over the place and already dead bodies lying around.

By the time I get onto the main road the fighting seems to have ended and this comes creeping out of the grass (there was a guy with her).

 

Berserkers are tough but I don't think tough enough to solo a mammoth and they don't ride horses.

 

Okay, so there's the sneaky guy, now a long way behind sneaky gal. That's a companion from Pop Roads just on my left shoulder and long comes a pilgrim. I still looting at this stage and it's all quiet.

Off we set when suddenly off we go for round two.

 

That was about 6 dots on the radar. There's a giant about somewhere plus a couple of unidentified fighter types. I've not swung a blow yet.

 

The giant's cow runs past.

 

Sneaky guy is a Wandering Trader but he doesn't seem in any hurry. Either that or the glass axe is a lot heavier than you'd think.

 

There's the giant looking at cabbagehead and there's cabbagehead looking at the giant. ?? ?

 

We make it onto the Rorikstead Road and see more dead bodies. Mr Sneaky is still sneakin' it.

 

As we proceeded more fighting broke out further down the road. People ran across the road from left to right and there was magic going off. Something tells me that at least one of the mages didn't make it.

 

Sometimes it is best just to try to avoid eye contact and carry on as if nothing has happened. This was one of those times.

 

So the horse from the mammoth fight made it as far as here and there is still people running across the road fighting.

 

Maybe it is a level thing but there are usually a band of Hammerfell bandits around here.

Tosspot the Wanderer taking on a bunch of Forsworn - smart move. Dead slave but no sign of the slavers.

 

Follow the money Follow the bodies.

 

Death Hounds, Zombie Dogs and magic flying about.

 

Dead Zombie Dogs and Forsworn.

 

Same again.

 

And they are still at it.

 

I've had enough so I'm going to nip in Chipped Tooth Cave to see if there is a cup of tea on the go. There again, there is always an HSO villain in there.